Nvidia is giving Valve's iconic Half-Life 2 a cutting-edge ray tracing makeover using its RTX Remix modding tool. A playable demo will be released on March 18th, offering a glimpse of the enhanced visuals before the full game's release.

As Nvidia explains, RTX Remix provides a way to modernize classic games, enhancing their graphics while preserving the core gameplay that made them unique.

After a year of beta testing, Nvidia's RTX Remix tool is officially available to the public, bringing features like DLSS 4 with multi-frame generation and RTX neural rendering. To celebrate the launch, Nvidia is releasing a Half-Life 2: RTX demo on March 18th, showcasing the technology's capabilities.

Developed in partnership with Orbifold Studios, the Half-Life 2: RTX demo will be available on Steam. This demo, accessible only to those who own the full Half-Life 2 game on Steam, specifically highlights the RTX Remix enhancements in the Ravenholm and Nova Prospekt levels. Orbifold Studios intends to release the full version of Half-Life 2: RTX at a later date.  If you don't already own Half-Life 2, it might be worth noting the game is currently on sale with a significant discount.

Nvidia clarified that a GeForce RTX GPU is required to create RTX Remix mods, while the resulting modded games are compatible with any hardware capable of running Vulkan ray tracing games. Full details about the release can be found in Nvidia's official announcement. This news may even spark hopes for a potential Half-Life 3, a possibility that never quite fades away.